“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness ... Malachi 3:1-3
I feel the messenger Malachi is speaking of is Jesus. For it is the blood of Jesus that purifies us like the refiner's fires do to make gold and silver pure. The refining fires he uses are the situations / obstacles He places on our path. We need to find a way to get past them - whether it be over, under, around or through - before we can make progress down the road we are traveling. These obstacles may be people, or things he is using to bring us to another milestone in our relationship with Him. You know we may be obstacles on someone elses path, too.
He uses people to teardown our defenses - the walls we build around our hearts - so that He can strengthen the connection we have to Him through His Spirit. He uses some people to teach us that loving is good and that we all need to love and be loved. He also uses people to teach us it is OK to trust - to learn who can be trusted and just how much AND who cannot be trusted.
I said that He also uses things as obstacles too. Places we need to conquor - either by leaving them or by traveling to them, belongings we need to rid ourselves of because we are holding onto the past, feeelings we harbor - either positive or negative - that are hindering our growth, or maybe even the chosen profession we are working in - or at.
Did you know that you could be working at something and not actually be a part of it? I work at a call center helping customers with the problems they may be having on their accounts. But I learned last night that I don't actually work in that place. I don't really belong there. But I still need to work at this job until I both conqour it and am released from it. God has placed me there for a purpose, and that purpose is not complete - yet! He has allowed me to help many people there, and I have learned much through my sojuorn, but it is not quit over. Someone still has something to learn by my being there - and it may or may not be me.
But the pathway does become clear once again - at least for a time - and we can see right into the throne room of our Savior and King. Rev 22:1-4a says;
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face ...
Yesterday's passage said that the Bride - the church of Christ - IS the New Jerusalem, right? So, if we are this Spiritual City that God dwells in, this passage speaks of our hearts when He has purified them - washed them clean with His blood - in preparation on our eternal home with Him. The water of life - the Holy Spirit of God - runs freely through our streets, the pathway we follow to His throne.
This throne is within us if we have accepted Him and allowed him access to live within us. we have to open the door of our heart and allow Him full and total access. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:19-20
Eating with someone is the most basic form of communion. Communion, sweet fellowship, with a person can be found is this sharing of a meal together. It is a time of peace where we give our bodies and our souls that which sustains them, food and the presence of another. Jesus longs to be that other that you commune with and the meal you would share with Him may not be meat and drink, but His words - His very Spirit - coming to life within your spirit. This time of communion with Jesus produces the fruit that are growing on the tree of LIFE within our hearts and lives. The very Fruit God gives is Love, Joy, Peace / Peacefulness, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. These fruit will be growing year-round, they will always be available to us in abundance! and when we look in the mirror we will behold our faces changing to be an exact likeness of Jesus, for He dwells fully within us. We will SEE His face in ours.
When this preparation comes to you - while you are going through it, take time to give your praises unto Him for the progress He is making in you - in you very heart, soul and mind. Let Him know you are thankful for ALL He has given you - even the refining fires. Psalm 150 answers all those questions that every good investigator asks. IT tells us Who, how, where, and why we are to give unto God. It also tells us the most important thing - the What - to give; we are to give Him all of our praise!
I think I will do a little creative re-writing on this Psalm. So, here goes!
Praise The Lord - Every Body!
Praise Him in the Sanctuary of your very Heart!
Praise Him for all of His wonderful acts of Creativity and his Mighty Power!
Praise Him for every great thing He has done in you,
through you and for you!
Praise Him with the fanfare of the Trumpets!
Praise Him with Keyboards of all types,
Clarinets, Flutes, Saxes, and Bagpipes!
Praise Him with all Percussion Instruments
and Clapping Hands!
Praise Him with all of your Movements and Dancing!
Praise Him with every kind of Stringed Instruments!
Praise Him with the tinkling of the castanets,
The crash of cymbals and the resounding sounds of the Gong!
Let all creatures which breathe
Praise the Lord with every fiber of their being!
Praise Ye The LORD!
As we close out 2010 and look forward to the New Things God is going to do in and for us in 2011,
Remember ALWAYS the words of this Psalm and
'Praise Ye The LORD!'
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